The Lay Bet at Craps

Hello Frank:

I have a question about a bet at the craps table. I was in A.C. a few weeks ago and as I was watching one of the crap tables a fellow was making a bet, he was consistently saying 10 dollars no fours. Could you tell me about this bet?

Thanks,
Danny

Hi Danny:

The lay bet is the reverse of the buy bet with the same intent on the Darkside of craps. You can lay bets on all the point numbers; that is the 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10. You want a 7 to be rolled before the number. The player must pay a five percent commission on the bet and then the "true odds" are paid. The true odds are as follows: you receive $1 for every $2 you bet on the 4 or 10; you receive $2 for every $3 you bet on the 5 and 9; and you receive $5 for every $6 you bet on the 6 or 8.

Lay bets can be made as follows: $19 for $41 on the 4 or 10; $19 for $31 on the 5 or 9, and $19 for $25 on the 6 or 8. Bets on the 4 or 10 should be based on a $40 unit; bets on the 5 or 9 should be in $30 units; while bets on the 6 and 8 should be based on $24, so that the five percent commission can be one dollar. If the commission can not be one dollar, it is rounded up, good for the house, bad for the player. For example, if you want to bet against the 4, the smallest bet should be $40 ($41 when you consider the $1 commission) and should the 7 be rolled before a 4 you would win $20. You face a 2.44 percent house edge on these 4 or 10 bets but on the 5 or 9 the edge goes up to 3.23 percent, and on the 6 and 8 it is a large four percent.

Now this individual you saw betting $10 then the commission will be one dollar. Ten dollars is way too little money to be laying against a number.

For your question, I am giving you a free one-month subscription to my private web site at www.goldentouchcraps.com. There are 5,000 members on this private site and the conversations are excellent.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete